Chapter 6: A New beginning
His skin has bleached than before, his dark brown eyes has scarlet glint in them and his inkjet hairs has started shedding. His handsome face, that was the epitome to charms others was no more. Well, at least his muggle father's tainted blood did serve it's purpose untill it lasted. But now, that handsomeness was of no use to him, he had acquired what he wanted. Power, knowledge, experience and most importantly: Immortality.
He will emerge as the herald of the death itself, the Mudbloods and the Blood traitors shall tremble by the mere mention of his name. They will kneel infront of him, afterall he is the Heir of Salazar Slytherin. His time has came, he has assembled his force; an army of Werewolves, Giants and Wizards that followed his ideology. He has further plans to acquire the support of Dementors, Acromantulas and other dark creature, but that will take some time.
He walked down the marble gritted stairs of the Riddle manor, the tainted blood of his father has inherited him this manor. After vanishing the man's existence, he had killed his grandparents and his new mother with his filthy muggle siblings. It would have been fun to disvalue the women mercilessly infront of her husband and children's eyes, but he didn't had much time for that.
The third of his Horcruxes, a measure that ensures his immorality, had been created out of their death. The ritual was the incentive behind his haste decisions, it consumed hefty amount of magic and blood, but the gift was worth the sacrifice.
He entered his study to find his old acquaintance present there waiting for him, the man bowed down respectfully as he entered the room.
"LeStrange, my old friend. What news have you brought to me?" The Dark wizard queried with a pleased hiss.
"Good news, My Lord, only good news" the man keyed proudly.
"Please do tell" The pale skinned man offered twirling his wand in his hand, as he took his seat on the lone chair in the room.
"You'll be pleased to know, my lord. I have mustered up a few pureblood families to join our cause, they sympathize with the pure blood motivation. Most influential among them are Marcus Avery, Erland Judgson and Aldred Flint." the brown haired man listed the names.
Voldemort gestured him to continue forward.
"I have also strove to sway the Blacks on our side, they are an Ancient and Noble clan, one of who separated from the Slytherin line itself" He reported dutifully.
"Slytherin Line? Remarkable, never thought I would meet another one of us" He mused as the twirl of his wand stopped. "See that it's finalized, there support would be of utmost importance"
The man bowed deeply before following his leader outside the room.
They walked toward the back of his manor, the disclosure of Blacks being distantly related to him did catch him off-guard, considering he had been in the same batch as of the elder Black brother, but there were no whispers of such compelling information.
It was not of such importance eitherway, though there support will benefit his upstanding and he will see that he gains that, afterall they were one of most influential families in the Britain at present. Still, they hadn't birthed any prominent wizard in the near century. Arcturus Black, the current head of the house is a powerful wizard that can dwarf even the toughest of the aurors in Ministry. However, he isn't not as formidable as Dumbledore, there are only a few wizards alive whom even Dumbledore would hesitate to confront. And, Lord Voldemort is one of them, being immortal gave ways and means to invincibility.
He opened the door that led to the back of his mansion and came face to face with of a group of three Werewolves, and four Skull masked wizards. They were assembled to carry out an another session of Muggle baiting.
An evil smirk found its place on his lips, another neighborhood of those filthy magic stealers shall be razed to ashes today. A revolution is on its way; a storm is on its way and Lord Voldemort is on the front of it.
Bellatrix Black, the middle daughter of Cygnus and Druella black, was strolling through the house of her cousin. Her grandfather has called a family meeting to discuss some grave issues, of which she didn't gave much thought, as it wasn't rare for the family to come together.
She entered the hall adjoined with kitchen to see her uncle, aunt and her youngest cousin on the rectangular dining table, it was used for family meetings for quite a few centuries, they were seated at their respective places. Narcissa and Andromeda headed for their respective seats with her mother soon following the suit fro behind her to. Only of her family unavailable was her father, He had been visibly distant during the past few weeks. When asked, he gave a short reply of nabbing a profitable business deal for the family. It wasn't unusual, her father was familiar with such norms and so was she.
"Where's Cousin Sirius?" Narcissa's voice interjected in the silence.
"That wretched boy has again sneaked out to avoid the imperative family meeting, I will punish him thoroughly once he returns" Walburga Black gritted through her teeth.
"I have told you many times to remove him from the heir position and place Regulus at his place, he is unworthy and unbecoming of the prestigious and royal house of Black" She rambled turning her head toward her husband.
"And, I have informed you before woman, Orion is not the head of this family and can't pass any order" Came the sharp reply as her grandfather and grandmother entered the hall.
Melanie Black was a woman of petite stature, however, that didn't hinder her astounding features and beautiful face from embracing her beauty. Even at this age, she was fairly unwrinkled and walked with unfound grace. Cassiopeia Black was not secondary in looks to Melanie, her posture matched that of Dorea and Arcturus, her face etched into a stern expression that elated her high cheek bones and heart shaped lips.
All assembled stood up as a sign of respect. Arcturus's younger sister, Cassiopeia, entered the room behind the couple and took her seat quietly. Arcturus circled his eyes across the room and signalled them to take seat.
"Furthermore, it has came to my notice that Sirius had fled out to particularly avoid you" Arcturus affirmed sincerely taking his seat at the head of the table.
"You can't possibly believe his words, he is a constant and disgraceful liar" Walburga refuted ducking her eyes onto the table.
"That will be mine to be decided, but not at present" Arcturus narrowed his eyes at her before glancing toward Andromeda. "Where's your father Andi? Has he not received my summon? and where the hell is Alphard?" He thundered.
"I am here, Apologies. The travel from the Alley is not that easy, was delayed due a skirmish between two wizards in the Cauldron" a deep manly voiced hailed entering the room, he was Alphard black, the only son of Arcturus's elder brother.
"Cygnus has been occupied with the business agreement, I am sure he has received the summon and will answer as quickly as he can" Druella voiced in hastily, it was non wise to anger the Black patriarch.
"Business agreement? Which business agreement are you talking about Druella?" Arcturus inquired confusedly. "I didn't allotted him to carry out any business agreements to in place of mine, that idiot, he is going to put us in a mess someday" He outraged slamming his fist on the table.
"I will certainly not" exclaimed Cygnus from the gate as he entered the room to take his seat, but not before bowing before Arcturus.
"It will see, nonetheless, I am not here to be a critic of your motivations. Rather, I have came across a most unnerving news" Arcturus addressed them looking at each of his family members.
"That I have too, Rumours say that there's a new Potter, one that is son of Aunt Dorea and Uncle Charlus and twin of James" Orion voiced in thoughtfully.
"Don't forget your place, Orion. Dare again to cut in between my words, and I will cut off your libido" Arcturus growled narrowing his eyes on his elder son.
"I am sorry, father" Orion shrunk into his seat.
"And, I know about the boy. I have met him, and was present at the time of his birth" Arcturus added calmly.
"Then, Why were we kept in dark? We should have also known about him" Walburga grounded out.
"You aren't that important Walburga, believe as much you think you are" Arcturus snapped back clenching his fist, the woman was truly loud and Obnoxious.
Walburga turned red before crouching her head quietly.
"Beside, as I have informed you before there's something else that we need to discuss, much important than this miniscule issue" Arcturus declared wistfully.
"It has came to my notice that a certain faction is uprising, one that claims to be the Messiah of Pure Blood idealism" Arcturus revealed. This singular revelation piped up the attention of group present in the room. "It appears that a man of rather mysterious origin has claimed the leadership of this group, and is conjuring up attacks on muggle districts"
"If I may, I want to explain the business deal you were informed about" Cygnus stood up thoughtfully.
Arcturus gestured him to carry on.
"I have had a meeting with a few members of our Pureblood alliance" Cygnus begun standing up. "Our friends and long term allies, Corvus LeStrange and Marcus Avery, have offered us an alliance with this particular group" He stated a bit proudly.
"That's marvellous, What would be more auspicious than supporting the revolution" Walburga beamed standing up to support Cygnus. "Our family motto has always been Toujours Pur. Purity above everything, I say we should join this group" She finished.
"What you say doesn't matter, Walburga. What I say, does." Arcturus roared standing up.
"Keep a leash on your wife, Orion, or you'll be thrown out of the house, this instant" He shot a seething look to his elder son.
"Yes, father" He said pulling Walburga down to her seat.
Arcturus looked around the room observing reactions on the topic being discussed, he adopted the advice Harry had given and sneaked inside the minds of his family members one by one. Orion, Cassiopeia, Melanie and Druella were as calm as they can be, weighing the merits and demerits of the feral offer. Bellatrix and Narcissa were interested by the prospect but not overjoyed. And, as clear by Walburga's and Cygnus's previous reactions, they were supportive of the group, as predicted by the new Potter. Alphard and Andromeda were the only one aloof of this whole prospect, not concentrating on the issue even a little bit. The support that Harry displayed for Andi and Sirius was probably due to this reaction, Arcturus was confident Sirius will take similar stand on the topic as Alphard.
"What's the offer, Cygnus?" He inquired after pondering for a while, no harm will be done if he only intends to hear the terms that they were offered.
Cygnus beamed at the question asked, took it as a signal that his father was thinking to join the cult. "We have been offered a prosperous alliance with the leader of the group, who epithet themselves as 'Knights of Walpurgis'. We have to provide wands and a bit of treasure in their service, in retrospect the other Pureblood families, that are in his service, would help us in any decision we take in the Wizengamot".
"Scrumptious, but not as chaste as it seems" He murmured to himself. "Is there something else?" He asked looking up to the man.
Cyngus nodded and said "They are also proposing marriage contracts: Bellatrix with Rodolphus LeStrange, Andromeda with Evan Rosier and Sirius with Crustella Avery"
"Marriage contracts?" Arcturus scowled. "A very deep-rooted venture" He grunted loudly shaking his head.
"You'll refuse, we will not join them" Arcturus declared to the surprise of most people in the room, except Orion and Cassiopeia who were smirking knowingly.
"But...But, that'll decline our influence over most of the pureblood families, we are to join the group" Cygnus replied frantically.
"You'll do as I say, boy. We'll not join them, and you're a fucking dopey, Cygnus" He reprimanded Cygnus sharply.
"This is an unintelligent declaration, You can't possibly think of abandoning our family motto" shrieked Walburga standing up again.
Arcturus's eyes flared red, as he flicked his wand and Walburga was constricted to her chair with straps and belts.
"You can't do..." She tried again but found herself unable to continue her rant as a black cloth found its place inside her mouth. Eye widened at the sudden outrage of the Black patriarch, it was not difficult to see that the man was disturbed and enraged by something, pricking around him was not the best thing to do right currently.
"When I say we will not join the movement, we will not. Arguments are not allowed, Do I make myself clear?" He snarled at the top of his voice.
Every body nodded quietly not able to muster up courage to say something.
Arcturus looked around the room before sighing heavily and receding to his seat, Melanie placed her hand on his shoulder comfortingly. He smiled at her in response before undoing his work on Walburga, who was already subdued by his sudden outrage.
"You fucking imbeciles doesn't understand the politics of revolution and war, this is not some occasional uplift of a blood purist, it's much more than that" He addressed them still looking weary.
"None of you, except Melanie, Cassiopeia and Dorea were even alive when the Wizarding kind saw the uprise of Grindelwald" He continued standing up.
He strolled around the room before standing above Alphard. "Our family used to be large, larger than it currently is" He placed his hand on Alphard's shoulder. "I have lost my brother and father to the war, Grindlewald's ascend to power was similar to what we are facing currently" He said remorsefully.
"But, this man is not a Dark lord, he just wants to purify the wizarding world from mudbloods and half-bloods" Cygnus tried to argue.
"No, He's not yet, but till when?" Arcturus silenced him with a firm voice. "It matters not, Cygnus. One day or the other, he will strive to become one and he will succeed if we support him" He finished closing his knuckles on the frame of his chair.
"We are one of the most influential families in the Britain, if we support him others, that follow us, will." Arcturus looked at each member before taking his place again.
"I agree with father" Orion voiced after he was confirmed that Arcturus has completed. "We know very little of this man, what's more, he's bold with his approach, no subtlety, no fear. He is either too powerful, or postulate himself as one"
"He must be strong, a pureblood could only be brave enough to do something this divine" Walburga pointed out.
The woman was really daft and stubborn, well it wasn't like Crabbes were known to be any better, they had always been morons.
"Nonetheless, Untill and uptill you carry the names of Blacks you'll neither seek the allegiance of the group, nor will you aid them in any way possible, am I understood?" He questioned with a edge in his voice.
"Yes" all them chorused, some unwillingly while some willingly and a few without a care.
"What about the marriage contracts? We could still honour them, all of the proposed are purebloods, that too of high class" Cygnus interjected suggestively.
Arcturus pondered over a moment before responding "Humble them, but not thoroughly. We have to enstall the primarity of our house, there's no blood stronger than the Blacks"
Cygnus nodded eagerly.
"Now, there's something else I need to inform you" He spoke up again. "As you must know till now the man will surely lead a revolution, that's inevitable at the current stage of ministry and the incompetent minister we have. That's why I have decided that all of my grandchildren will come and stay with us; Melanie, Cassiopeia and myself." He announced wistfully.
"Cassiopeia here" the said woman stoop up beside him. "has agreed to teach them proper etiquette, and more importantly, I will be training them" He declared.
"The war, it wouldn't come to that, for our children to fight" Cygnus tried nervously.
"I don't want to believe it will, but there's no wrong in strengthening ahead" Arcturus replied back.
"Sirius and Regulus will not go" Walburga declared standing up.
Arcturus eyed her critically, the woman was getting on his nerve, disobedience wasn't something he was akin to.
"That's not yours to decide, I am the head of this family, and the decision lies with me" He waved her off.
"But.." She couldn't carry on as Arcturus held a placating hand in front of her.
"What's the problem with them being with me? I am the head of this house, moreover they are our future, the future of this house" He asked sharply.
"No...But...We are their parents" Cygnus interjected nervously.
"And?" Arcturus asked with an edge in voice.
"Don't tell me you are hiding something, Cygnus" Arcturus queried suspiciously.
Apparently, Cygnus's fidgeting didn't went unnoticed by Arcturus. He passed through his mental barriers stealthily, with the aid of family ring. Guilt and fear, these two were evident in his thoughts. Arcturus frowned at him before re-directing his mind toward his granddaughters and daughter-in-law. Andromeda and Narcissa were totally fine, as was Druella, mentally, except the slight fear and resentment in their minds. It was Bellatrix's mind in disarray and complete mess that enraged Arcturus. He plunged deeper in her mind, surprisingly, she had active occlumency barriers. Yet, her mind was in completed disarray, memories blank at several instances, no sign of physical abuse but prominent of mental restrictions.
He pulled back from her mind gently, careful of not disturbing anything primary.
"What's the meaning of this, Cygnus?" He growled out.
"Wh-What?" Cygnus blurted out fearfully.
"Why is her mind amiss? What did you do to her?" He inquired dangerously.
Bellatrix was confused, and a bit nervous, at the sudden change in her Grandfather's stance as soon as his eyes met hers. What was he talking about? Her mind amiss? that didn't followed up. She was perfectly find, although she did have blank in space of some memories and had gotten into trouble a few times with her peers because she forgot some important information.
"I...I, She is my daughter, it's my right to punish her as I want" Cygnus argued heatedly.
"You imbecible, You fucking tried to probe inside her mind. Do you even understand the consequences of that?" He shouted, stepping toward Cygnus. "She will became a bloody maniac if those blanks are not filled. She is a human, you moron, her mind extends every day, those gaps will permanently hobble her mind if not handled properly" He grabbed the collar of Cygnus and slapped him hard on his face.
Cygnus staggered back and landed on his butt. He gritted his teeth and stood back, glaring at Arcturus grudgingly.
"You will not have the custody of any of those three, you are a bloody wanker, who doesn't understand difference between parenting and abusing" Arcturus declared angrily.
He turned his gaze toward his youngest grandchild, he peered inside Regulus mind, there was no sign of physical abuse but resentment toward Sirius. That didn't matched the boy's personality, he shouldn't be resentful toward his older brother, Sirius loved his younger brother dearly, that, Arcturus had seen that a few times in their interactions.
"The four of them will come with us, and you" He pointed toward Walburga. "If I find that you've been doing the same with my heir, I will make sure that you are treated equally" He threatened the woman, who turned pale as ghost.
"What about our clothes and other luggage?" Andromeda asked hesitantly.
"They will be brought in by the house elves, come we will go now, the meeting is adjourned" He announced and gestured the four of them to accompany Melanie and Cassiopeia.
"And, Don't forget, We will not support that madman" He said glancing toward rest four occupants of the room before walking to the floo.
(_-_-_X_-_-_)
Harry took a seat on one of the adjoining chairs from Sirius, the girl hung to his arm took the one beside him.
"What will you all have?" He asked looking toward James then Sirius, who was engaged in a flirting banter with the girl on his left.
James was the only one with two girls on his arms, chattering in his ears about god knows what. It was actually Sirius' idea to woo the girls, only for passive fun that is. Surprisingly, James also had followed the suit and dragged Harry with him, through the evening it became clear that he wasn't entirely fixated on Lily, yet.
That would surely change and that too by itself, Harry didn't wanted to interfere with that, not slightest.
The experience of a girl clinging to his arm was somewhat disconcerting for Harry, it wasn't like he had not had experience with girls untill now. He had his experience with Cho-Chang, and Ginny to a shorter extended. Though, He was never the attention seeking type, thus he never used his charms, that he surprisingly does possess, to woo girls of his school.
It wasn't untill Sirius had sat him down and told him all about opposite sex, wooing a girl, crushes and ultimately fornication, that word was terrifying for Harry. He had asked the meaning of that word to Hermione, reluctantly. She went red the second he pronounced the word, and splattered incoherently for a few seconds before running off. He had derived the answer, but asking Dumbledore about the word wasn't probably the sanest thing he has done, his explanation was-for a right word- graphic.
"Whatever you will have" Sirius said focused on the girl beside him.
"You, James?" He turned toward the boy with untamed black hairs.
"Yep, Dad had named something like Capp...Cape...Capocinno!" James voiced, the girls on his arms giggled at his mispronunciation.
Harry nodded and arched his eyebrow amusedly at the girls. "And, What will you all have ladies?"
A haul of Cappuccino, Black coffee and Hot chocolate rose as an answer. He excused himself to order the drinks.
He returned to the sight of the girl previously clung on his arm now on Sirius', he chuckled and took his seat beside her. Beside, Sirius was devilishly handsome, it wasn't unexpected that girls would fall head over heels for him. He glanced up toward James to see him looking toward him, James eyed the girl clung to Sirius knowingly before shooting an apologetic smile toward him. Any conversation that could have been initiated was interjected by the arrival of their orders, Harry took his hot chocolate and stationed himself in the corner looking outside the window, while his reflection stared back at him.
The three of the youngsters had decided to spend the evening together in the muggle London, Harry had offered himself as a guide for the trip. Sirius and James were quite astonished that Harry knew so much about muggle generally and historically, James did have knowledge about the muggle world through his father. Although Dorea was just a bit skeptical regarding the other part of the world, as expected by a Black, she wasn't grown up like Charlus or James.
The evening wore down slowly and they had to return to the manor now, though it wasn't problematic for the wizards to roam in the night, adversely it is the favourite time of the day for Wizards that stayed near muggles. Shadows and Moonlight gave them a chance to explore the surrounding without any fear or reservation.
They took the responsibility to ensure that the girls reach their homes safely, nighttime wasn't safest for the muggle apparently. Harry and the group behind him just took a turn when they heard noises from the woods beside the path they were travelling on.
"What was that?" James asked Sirius, who shrugged in response.
"Probably a cat or a little rodent, not much resides in these tree lines" one of the girls waved off their concern.
It wasn't until they had helped the girls to their home and were on the way back to home that they heard those noises again, this time much closer.
Harry silenced the boy with a finger on his lips, then the duo heard the most chilling sound a wizard can imagine, howling, not a single howl, they was an uproar in the woods and the howling spread through it. Harry was on his guard, he quickly waved his wand over James and Sirius casting a dillusional, silencing and smell suppression charm over them.
"Be as quiet as you can, even if you are silenced, the leaves under you foot can still make noise" He warned them warily.
"And, no matter what happens don't interfere, I am much experienced of such situations, you're not" He alerted them and revealed a cloak out of his pocket. He draped it over his shoulder and pulled the hood up to hide his face, giving his identity to a werewolf was never a good idea, that he had derived from his encounters, primarily after his fated encounters with Fenrir Greyback.
"But, there are more than one. What do you know about werewolves anyway?" James asked haughtily.
"More than you do, now shut up before I make you" Harry snapped at him.
The noises became clearer, the trio observed several shadowy figures approaching where they were hidden.
"What is it, now?" asked one of the figures.
"You two" the man pointed toward two others. "You'll follow the two of those creatures, while I will follow the third" he ordered.
Harry understood that the man was the leader in command of the group. 'Creatures' word was probably used for the werewolves, beside, he can't forget those howls. He had lost too many of his schoolmates to those creatures. A flash of memories recalled the tangled and mutilated corpses of a few female classmates of his, firstly defiled by those monstrous creatures then killed mercilessly.
Rage build up inside him, no he can't let that atrocity befall upon these unsuspecting muggles.
"Stay calm and don't even move an inch, do you understand me?" he whispered cautiously.
The both boys nodded, the evening had tone down their adrenaline somehow, else they would have been actively arguing with him.
The way the figures addressed the werewolves it was clear that they resented the beings, but didn't dared to say that on their faces. And, there weren't many groups that would work with werewolves, even spitefully. Death eaters, that was the easiest and nearest possibility, so, it was hunting time for Harry.
(_-_-_X_-_-_)
Acklas was a new recruit in the ranks of the Dark wizard, He was bitten by a werewolf when he was 12 year old. That was how he got these amazing powers, stupid people regarded this gift as a disease. Lycanthropy, that was what they named it. But, for him and many others in his group, it was a gift that gave them immense power.
Unsurprisingly, he didn't get a job due to his condition, that was not entirely expected. However, it wasn't that important either, he never wanted to sit behind a desk signing papers and licking his betters' ass. No, this was much fun, using his power to its full extent, embracing his canine side.
"Hold down, you mutts. We are here as a team, atleast behave like one" one of the wizards commented from behind.
His partner growled at the man uncovering his set of pointed teeth, the man flinched back pointing his wand toward his partner.
"Don't joke around like that, we are here to-aahhhhhhh" the man screamed out before vanishing up from the location, His wolfish vision looked around for the man.
The blood trails led up to a tree, they looked up to see the man's body sliced open in many parts, he was stuck on tree with a branch driven through his throat.
The attack was a simple muggle baiting event, they had made sure that the district was far off from any Wizarding kind, something was definitely up.
(_-_-_X_-_-_)
Moments ago:
Harry followed the two men that joined the Werewolves, a short conversation or rather a show of dominance took place between the group.
It was enough for now, he flicked his wand in the direction of one of the men, not aiming at him but the tree behind him. The bark shifted into tentacles of wood that plunged deep into the man's body, lacerated him several times through his body, the last tentacles drove through his throat killing him the process.
The man beside him tried to locate Harry but he instead focused on the brown furred creature, he aimed his wand at his feet and murmured "Meruzo". Octopus like tentacles contrived of rocks and soil erupted out of the ground constructing the beast strongly. The beast thrashed and drove his claws through the rocks but that did little help, adversely the more he revolted more tentacles rose out of the ground astringing the beast.
The other werewolf tried his best to claw and bite the rocks off his friend but failed, even the barrage of spells from the wizard didn't even bulged the soiled constructs. The spell did its work and pulled the man underground, the spell was a modified version of one he found in the restricted section of Hogwarts library, it wasn't a dark spell as per its author, but rather too difficult to use.
The tentacles would choke the beast untill it stops thrashing, and even if he survived, he couldn't stay alive long thirty feet under the ground buried.
Acklas was scared, for the first time after he has received his gift he was truly terrified. He always thought his transformation gave him unequalled protection against spells, but that wasn't true and the proof was infront of him.
"Avada Kedrava" the wizard shot toward the tree lines. "Who are you? Show yourself" the man yelled frantically.
A Turquoise spell sailed toward the man who tried to avoid it but didn't succeed, the spell hit him on left shoulder tearing through the clothes. The skin at the place became dark brown and man knelt down in pain, writhing and screaming.
Harry had chosen a particular spell for the wizard, who by his lack of aim and consciousness of surrounding, was a newbie in the Dark lord's ranks. The spell would kill the man, but slowly and painfully. He focused his attention on the werewolf now, he transfigured two big rocks beside him into two large sun spiders and banished them toward the werewolf.
The beast demolished the first construct but the second one latched to its back, the beast trawled in pain as the spider tore throw his hide and dug deep inside its skin. Harry flicked his wand and the soil beneath the beast turned into a swamp that pulled the beast inside restricting it's movement. The screams of the beast stopped when the stone spider crushed its head between its pincers.
However, as soon as the beast let down a red spell flew toward Harry's head, he duck down to avoid the spell and rolled to take cover behind a tree. He saw an another beast and a wizard speeding toward the group, the wizard sneered in his direction before firing a spell. Harry flicked the spell up in the trees, a blast and the branches caught fire, igniting the whole area.
He heard stomping of leaves behind him and turned to see the werewolf ascending toward him, grinning widely. He simply flicked his wand and the bushes turned themselves into iron rods, he arched his ward in a circular motion and the rods slithered like snakes and impaled the man thoroughly. They turned in an erratic manner after each impale, making it impossible for the beast to release out of them. A spell hit his arm unexpectedly, before the arm could catch fire he tore off his sleeves that instead burned to ashes.
"You wanker, How dare you interrupt our-" The man wasn't able to finish his sentence as a spell hit him square on his chest, blood oozed out of his eyes and ears, and the man fell to the ground, unmoving after a few minutes.
Harry returned to the man who's wound has started healing, the beast would be a problem if he is able to free himself.
Harry broke off a branch from the nearby tree and transfigured it into a silver short sword, he stepped near the beast and looked at him unforgivingly. These men had arrived here to rape, torture and kill the humans around the district, they will never show mercy to anyone, the worst kind of human they were; so they should be treated as such.
Harry cleaved the beast's head from his shoulder with a powerful swing, the head rolled on the ground abandoned of any restraint.
Before he could return to his friends someone grabbed his neck in a vise grip from behind, idiots, who does use physical force if you have a wand. He waved his want as slowly as he can and ran the incantation in his mind, a pair of silvery dragons rose of the ground and incased the man in between.
The wizard was scared, he had lost his wand somewhere around in panic as he saw his acquittance being written off by a single man. He tried his best to sneak up to the man and was successfully in doing so, he grabbed the throat of the man from behind intending to choke him down. However, as soon as he touched the man two silvery figures rose out of the ground and whacked him back, his vision cleared and two figure were cleared as two dragons. His blood ran cold when the wizard turned around dressed in a full body black cloak, the only thing that can be seen through that hood was shining emerald orbs. They were flaring up with spirit of vengeance, and then all went black.
Harry knocked the man out, he can be used a messenger to Tom. The man hasn't seen his face neither noticed anything prominent, probably. Thus, he can be used to pass the message that this war wasn't going to be easy with Tom, that too with the rotting but still alive body of his partner. This would sure garner Tom's attention, but his curiosity will not be satiated even with an active legilimency session.
Harry heard the sound of shuffling behind, and casted the counter charm to make his friends visible again.
"You...You killed a werewolf" James stuttered out in both awe and horror.
"I had to, they were about to attack the muggle districts nearby" Harry said remorsefully.
"B-But a W-Werewolf, and those men" Sirius asked fearfully.
That meant the boys had not seen the other victims of his, that was essential, he couldn't let them see all of that. As he has not used very favourable spells while doing so, except the transfiguration work. Harry wasn't naïve, he knew they had to participate in the war one day, even if they don't want that. Voldemort didn't tolerate neutral people either, if you're not a Death Eater then you're against him. However, the boys were not ready and this particular incident can be used to put some maturity in the duo.
He wasn't the perfect teacher but he was a good one, that he had accepted after he trained his friends during their fifth year under the nose of that pink toad. He will teach them, but he will not encourage them to take part in the war, for now that is. They will know enough spells to protect themselves and with right training those spells could also be used for offensive purposes.
"That was the need of the moment, Sirius, and those men are alive atleast one of them will be untill the next morning" He answered neutrally.
"Now, We should go, I don't want to meet the leader of their organisation, yet" Harry said placing his hand over the duo's shoulder and vanished in a silent apparation.
(_-_-_X_-_-_)
Harry and the duo entered the manor when the clock was ticking at 10'o clock.
"You killed it, but that's not possible, a werewolves hide is spell proof, you can't use a spell on it. No only that but, it also has enhanced healing powers, you can't harm it that easy" James argued as they entered the manor.
"Yes, James. I agree that it does has a magic proof hide, that spell if not over powered can't pass through. Yet, physically it's vulnerable. A physical attack will cause harm to the individual, though it's enhanced healing power could help that, but a quick and swift lethal attack would kill it" Harry argued back.
"Yeah, but still You shouldn't have killed him, he was a human nonetheless of his condition. Maybe his wolfish self provoked him" Sirius snapped from behind Harry.
"That's not it, Sirius. He was not a normal werewolf strutting around a muggle district by mistake" Harry explained him calmly. "They were intentionally roaming to harm the muggle, moreover, today is not a full moon night that that would influence his transformation" Harry defended calmly.
"What's the whole ruckus about?" Charlus inquired from above the stairs.
"We had encountered a bad company in the end of this evening" Harry replied vaguely.
"Bad company? You call them bad company?" James asked him. "He hunted down a Werewolf and a Wizard." James stated looking toward his father.
"You did what?" Dorea took a sharp breathe as she appears beside Charlus.
"It was nothing, they were trying to attack on the muggles. I just did what I should have" Harry replied not wavering under her glare.
"But, He was a Werewolf, he was a human. You can't kill a human, Harry, that too on the suspicion" Sirius interjected with a frown.
"Calm down, You three" Charlus reprimanded them as he climbed down the stairs. "James and Sirius go clean yourself and meet me in the living room, and Harry I would like you to join me right now" He said as Dorea joined him.
"Can you please bring three coffees and two hot chocolate to the living room?" Charlus requested to Dorea who nodded hesitantly, and walked on toward the kitchen.
Charlus kissed her on cheeks before entering the living room himself.
Sirius and James climbed the stairs to their room, still not happy how things went in the evening while Harry joined the man in living room.
He stood in front of the fireplace and Charlus brought a glass of firewhiskey to him.
"Were they there?" Charlus inquired handing him the glass.
"Yeah, a group of seven. Three werewolves and four wizards" He replied and down the liquid contained in the glass, his throat burned a bit by the raw alcohol but the feeling went quickly, what remained was the sweet-bitter taste of the malt.
"Did you killed them all?" Charlus took his seat on the sofa and gestured him to take a seat beside.
"No, I think one of the werewolves and two wizards will live, the werewolf was not the intentional though" He took the seat beside Charlus.
"Two werewolves, but how, they are quite resilient creatures" Charlus had seen Harry's memory but not everything was detailed in those.
"I will give you the same answer that I gave James, I agree their hide is spell proof and they possess enhanced healing abilities for physical damage." He held a placating hand to Charlus. "Yet, they can be killed with a well timed lethal physical attack, I have done it before, it's never easy but you get a grip after sometime" he relished calmly.
"Do you hate them?" came a question from the door, Harry glanced toward the door to see Sirius standing there.
He gestured the boy to come inside, which Sirius did and took a seat on one of the sofa chairs.
"I don't hate them, Sirius" Sirius let out a silent breathe at that. "On the adverse side, I see them as a victim, victim of a disease that can't be cured." Harry continued. "However, the werewolves we met today were not of that sort, they were true beasts. Do you know what would they have done, if I didn't killed them?" He asked Sirius sincerely.
"That still doesn't justify what you did" James said sharply entering the room.
Harry sighed softly. "The two of you wait here, I have to show you something"
"Is this the right time? They are still kids, Harry" Charlus asked worriedly.
"Neither I believe that nor Voldemort will, they will be dragged in this anyway" Harry replied walking out of room.
"What are you two talking about?" James inquired. "Beside, Harry and I are of same age, if he knows something then I should too" James demanded stubbornly.
Harry walked in at that point holding a stock of papers in his arms, he placed them on the table and one by one levitated them in the air, focusing on the articles those highlighted the attacks.
Soon, a dozen of paper were levitating in front of the duo.
"Read them thoroughly, we will argue after that" Harry instructed them taking his sit beside Charlus.
James and Sirius started reading through the papers-Rapes: Murders: Tortures: Massacres; and everything worse that a person could imagine.
"These...Thes-"
"Yes, this is what they were there for, my brother" Harry stated knowingly.
"But..But, Why is there not a movement against this? The ministry would surely do something against this" James argued back worriedly.
"It is not as simple as it seems, James." Harry replied pacing around the fireplace with a scowl on his face. "The group is targeting muggle districts rather than wizards or witches, thus the higher officials of the ministry are able to shake off the responsibility of such attacks" Harry disclosed a bit irritably.
"Furthermore, The ministry fears that a stand against this lunatics would seem like ministry supressing a dark lord, and after Grindelwald's reign of terror, it would see current minister in critical lights as he had not taken such actions before this situation got worse" Harry pointed out.
"That's idiocy, the imbecible will lead us to another war if it's not stopped" Sirius cut in thoughtfully, frowning at his own words.
"Yes, He will. Thus, we have decided to form a group of our own that will repel them" Charlus stated looking over to Harry, who nodded in response.
"A group?" Sirius inquired.
"Yes, A group. We are trying to broach allies that will help us through this upcoming war" Harry added. "Don't be fooled, there will be a war, and at will or not, we will be dragged in it" Harry mused loudly.
"That's why you have been trying to garner good relations with neutral families of Britain" James suddenly hailed pointing toward Charlus.
"Yes, I am son, and I have been successful to do so with two prominent families, Greengrass and Dearbones" Charlus responded calmly.
"So, that's the reason you murdered those werewolves, they were the part of that organisation" Sirius catechized.
"Yes, that is the reason" Harry replied shaking his head.
"I am sorry.." James said but was interrupted by Sirius. "We both are, Harry, we suspected you" they apologized.
Harry took his place again.
"No harm done there, I will be more worried if you hadn't questioned me" Harry replied ruffling Sirius' hairs, who glared at him in response.
"Now, we need to have a talk, you both" Harry instituted sincerely. "This information changes things, you both have to be very careful and be a bit mature, the climate is changing there's a storm our way."
"A storm?" James asked confusedly.
"Yeah, a storm. This war will take many lives, that's inevitable, the man behind this attack will not go down without a proper fight" Harry conveyed ruefully.
Sirius and James looked crestfallen at the information, Harry had warned and alerted them earlier than intended.
"Worry not, James. You're not obliged to take part on the field" Harry revealed. "We have decided, Dad and me, that not all of us are required to take part in this fight. That's why, if you don't want, You'll not be liable to"
"Why not? Why won't I want to join the war? If you and dad will participate, then I will too" James denied stubbornly.
"There's no need James, the two of us are enough." Harry tried to safeguard his brother, or father, whichever one may see it as.
"When I said I will, then I will" James declared determinately.
"Okay, if that's what you want" Charlus voiced in-between the two teens. "As for you, Sirius.."
"My family has chose to support this Dark lord, haven't they?" Sirius let his next words flew open.
Charlus stared at Sirius for a moment before shaking his head in, surprisingly, negative. "No, they haven't. Although, your mother and uncle was adamant on accepting the leader's offer, your grandfather denied."
"What?" Sirius stood up in shock, his grandfather denied the offer? That was not what his grandfather should have done, atleast according to him.
"B-But.." James stammered for a few seconds before gulping loudly. "Uncle really did that?" James asked embarrassed at his mishap in speech.
"Yes, he did. At present, the house of Black is at neutral regarding this whole issue" Charlus answered confidently.
"That is strange" Sirius scowled at the sudden urge he had to talk to his grandfather, what was on the mind of old war hawk?
"Also, Sirius, you are not to return to Grimmauld place. Your grandfather has taken up all of you, his grandchildren, under his care." Charlus intoned smiling at the boy.
Now, Sirius was truly baffled at the news, he was free of that hell hole. However, his grandfather was least expected to gain him freedom of that asylum, what the hell was happening today?
He placed his wand on his arm and muttered a spell, the skin around his wand point turned red and he shrieked cause of the pain. He had casted a minor stinging charm over his arm to confirm that it all was true, not a dream of his.
"It's all true, but how? I mean, Why?" Sirius asked quizzedly.
"Maybe, it was due to the discussion I had with him" Harry mused rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
Two heads snapped toward him, Sirius' and James' jaws hung down. "What?" they choruses in unison.
"You're kidding, right?" James called for.
"Please tell us you're joking, Harry" Sirius begged from behind his friend.
"No, I am not" Harry replied steadily.
"Are you mad, dude? He's Arcturus Regulus Black, you don't discuss nothing with him" James exclaimed loudly.
"Yeah, you can't talk to him while seeing direct in his eyes, they freezes everything they look upon" Sirius shuddered at the thought.
Charlus sniffled his chuckle at the reaction of the two boys, there were simply too scared of the man to talk to him, he was an outright strict and dangerous man.
"Calm down, both of you. My brother is not that scary, he's just a little strict" Dorea chastised entering the room, Maisie trailing behind her with a tray of coffee and Hot chocolates as requested.
"Yeah, some nice bloke he is" Sirius muttered silently.
Tom Marvolo Riddle was angry, he was outraged as his convoy has returned half, and that too; broken and beaten nearly to death, one of three did die a few minutes after his return.
He has razed through their memories, not even caring slightly for their mental health. Yet, He was not able to grope up any decisive information out of them, it was rather panicked and blurry memories that he encountered. But, one thing was confirmed, this wizard, whoever he was, was powerful and merciless.
The way he had disposed his contingency did prove those point quite weightily. The hood was an offset for his identity but his fighting style was unique, and a reoccurrence couldn't be missed. He will have to gather as much information he can about the individual, he can be a resourceful ally or a thorny foe.
"Corvus" He hissed calmly, the man entered the room.
"Yes, My lord?" the elder LeStrange bowed before standing straight.
"I want you to see something, my friend." He said waving his arm and a pensieve floated to his desk. "I send a convoy today to a muggle district and they encountered a wizard there" he continued placing his wand tip over his forehead.
"What happened to Wizard, my Lord? Do I have to pull a string to bury his demise as an accident" Corvus asked evocatively stroking his goatee.
"I appreciate your consideration, Corvus" He plucked out a silvery strands, and dipped it inside the pensieve. "However, the tables turned on our group. The wizard single handedly killed five out of seven people, out of which two were our canine friends and three wizards."
"The individual had the ability to kill two werewolves, he must have been worse for wear after the encounter" Corvus said thoughtfully.
"Why don't you see for yourself?" Voldemort signalled him toward the pensieve. The man pushed his head inside the bowl of the transparent liquid, that was glistening beryl due the presence of memory in it.
The man emerged out rather stricken and twitchy, he looked around for a glass of water and downed the one he saw placed upon the desk after a brief nod from the Dark lord.
"He flayed them like mantis preys on flies, even the transformation wasn't able to save the creatures from his constructs. That's a fair piece of transfiguration, not many can brag at that level." Corvus added in subdued manner.
"That, I also find unnerving, I have rooting for this movement from an early stage, none wizard of that calibre could have gone unnoticed" Voldemort said confusedly.
"If I am allowed Milord" Voldemort waved him to speak his mind. "The man is either a Potter, a Grindelwald or a Dumbledore's apprentice" he intoned confidently.
"How so?" He hissed questioningly.
"The level of transfiguration he displayed was rather scarce, Milord. His wands movements reminds me that of Charlus Potter, he was a beast in his prime, that he still resembles but not quite undisturbed" He stated.
"Grindlewald was the same. I was a child during his reign but did see some of his fight first hand, due to his interest in that Old git Dumbledore. The thing is his wand movement resembles that of the man" He continued frowning at that particular detail.
"And, Transfiguration is Forte of the old fossil, much as I am disgusted to admit, he is a true master of transformation, and this wizard show same expertise as him" Corvus completed.
"That's a detailed Intone, and I truly appreciate your thoughtfulness." Voldemort said patting the man on dep shoulder. "I want you to look over any wizard that possess similar abilities, in case any have swindled from our sight"
Tom was right, either this wizard would be a compelling ally or a thorny foe.
It wasn't untill the last day at the Potter manor for three teens that Harry received a shocker that would change his life in the past forever.
He sat in his room scrawling the last of paragraphs on the Animagus transformation for James and Sirius, as they had still to acquire theirs. Harry had posed two methods in front of them, at last when they had confided in Remus' furry problem, and a request for help on transformation into an Animagus. Harry himself was as Animagus for he has chosen to support Remus in his transformation during his stay with Sirius and after his demise, and so was Hermione of his time.
He stroked the plumage of his Raven fondly, it's amber crystals peering at him interestingly, he placed the papers in a file and stood up with the bird still on his shoulder.
"You are free to fly, my friend. I never restricted Hedwig neither will you" The bird cawed loudly as if denying his offer and settled on his shoulder more strongly.
"Master requested your presence in the main hall, his brother had returned with his daughter after a trip from Australia" Maisie said appearing out of nowhere.
Harry squeaked and bounced back at the sudden voice, before recomposing himself while his bird gave out a cackle like caw.
"Yeah..Yeah, I trust you found this funny" Harry grumbled tossing a dried bacon for the bird to snatch it.
Maisie too looked amused as she peered up at her master, Harry had formed a close bond with the house elves, more with Maisie than any.
"I will be there, thank you, Maisie" Harry said appreciatively.
The elf nodded and vanished with a pop
Harry adjusted the bird on his shoulder to avoid it's pointy talons and climbed down the stairs to enter the room.
"Yes, I understand. You have to do it, it's how we all are, brother of mine" Charlus said shrugging, the man infront wasn't unsimilar to Charlus. Brown hairs, untamed with dark brown eyes, stood beside him was a tall woman, petitie in frame and curly black locks.
"You called, Dad?" Harry asked with a genuine smile, it was nice to meet more of his relatives.
"Ah, Yes, Harry" He gestured the boy to his side which he obliged. "This is my brother Flemount Potter, and his wife Elfie Potter" He introduced the boy to the couple.
"Oh, Our new celebrity. Well, we also had quite the stir when we revealed Jane to the Britain" Flemount said taking hold of Harry's hand.
He shook his hand before the woman took his place.
"Aunt" Harry greeted bending down and pecking the back of her hand.
"Aren't you the gentleman?" Elfie responded happily before hugging the boy gently.
"Jane would be happy to met you, James and Sirius are quite troublesome around her" she chided happily.
"Harry?" A voice sounded from behind him, a very familiar voice that he had not been expecting for at least one or two decades. No, it can't be. His mind must be playing tricks on him, surely.
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter; All rights are reserved to JK Rowlings.